Fire destroys village grocery store in east-central Saskatchewan

The village of Pelly, Sask., suffered a major blow when the local grocery store caught fire in the early morning hours of Dec. 31. 

Mayor Trevor Auchstaetter, who is also a member of the volunteer fire department, said firefighters were called at about 2 a.m. CST.

"When we arrived on scene the building was at least one-third engulfed in flames already," said  

"It was more of a 'save the building beside it' situation."

Auchstaetter said the grocery store sat only five feet from a three-story building and the goal was to make sure that it didn't burn down also.

"Everything was kind of under control by about 7 or 8 a.m.," he said. "I think we just finished packing up all the hoses and stuff at about 11 this morning."

No one was injured in the fire, but the loss of the grocery store is devastating to the community. 

"it's probably going to hit us hard," Auchstaetter said. "I mean probably 90 per cent of our population are seniors in town and lots don't have [driver's] licences."

Now, he said, people will have no choice but to drive just to get a jug of milk. 

"It's a blow, but no one's hurt and materials can get replaced."

Pelly is located roughly 100 kilometres northeast of Yorkton.